Premier League: Reliving Newcastle's 1995/96 title challenge, by the players - Yahoo Sport More Sports Premier League: Reliving Newcastle's 1995/96 title challenge, by the players It's 20 years since one of the Premier Leagues most exciting teams faltered after leading by 12 points. The Magpies main men from that era talk you through the key games of a thrilling season. You'll LOVE it... 20 April 2016 10:14   Newcastle United ’s 1995/96 season, as the cliché goes, had everything. It had great moments (“I will love it if we beat them”), great games (that 4-3 defeat at Anfield), great stats (12 points clear in early February) and great myths. Our memories tell us that Kevin Keegan ’s side scored for fun that season, and conceded just as easily. In fact, they found the net just 66 times, one fewer than in the previous campaign, and conceded 37, only two more than eventual champions Manchester United .

But why let the truth get in the way of a great story? And what a story it was. “The trouble is,” says left-back John Beresford , “we were having such a good time that it flew by, and we didn’t get a chance to take it all in.” Setting the scene Newcastle had returned to the top flight with a bang in 1993/94, scoring 82 goals as they finished third in their first season back. Nearly half of those goals had come from Andy Cole , though, who was sold to Manchester United in January 1995. After finishing sixth, and backed by Sir John Hall’s millions, the Toon regrouped that summer, signing Les Ferdinand from QPR and David Ginola from PSG, as well as goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and England right-back Warren Barton (Tino Asprilla and David Batty would join them in February). Inspired by Keegan – “We would have jumped off the Tyne Bridge for him,” says Beresford – Newcastle believed they could mount a serious title challenge. They were great to watch, playing in an attacking 4-4-2 formation with two out-and-out wingers. View gallery .

“I watch the Premier League now and I get bored,” Rob Lee, their star midfielder that season, tells FourFourTwo. “I’ve never seen so many 0-0s. We didn’t play in any that season. And Keegan never told us to take the ball into the corner if we were 2-1 up. We were told to try to get a third goal, then a fourth.” That gung-ho approach, allied with a lack of title-winning experience within the squad, ultimately proved to be their downfall. Unlike their title rivals Manchester United, who by then were approaching the height of their unpopularity under Alex Ferguson , Newcastle found it increasingly difficult to grind out results on the road. Just one of the Magpies’ eight defeats that season came at a rapturous St James’ Park. “But I wouldn’t change a thing,” insists Beresford. “And I know people will say it’s sour grapes, but I think it would have been great for football if we’d won the league. That’s why neutrals want Leicester to win it this season – everybody loves a team who go for it, who entertain. And we entertained.

How many other teams are still remembered for finishing second?” View gallery Newcastle United 3-0 Coventry City St James’ Park, August 19, 1995 It didn’t take long for Rob Lee to realise that Newcastle’s class of 1995/96 were on the verge of something special. “It was the opening game of the season,” the former England midfielder tells FFT. “The sun was shining, the atmosphere at St James’ Park was electric and we were 2-0 up – although it could have been quite a few more. I remember thinking: ‘We’ve got a very good team here’. We had a nucleus of players who were on the fringes of the England team, which meant they were hungry, and we had a great team spirit, which made it easy for new players to settle in quickly. “We were a little bit weak physically the season before, so we made some ‘strong’ signings, and because the manager was under pressure after selling Andy Cole to Manchester United in January, he made all his summer signings pretty much as soon as the season had finished, which took the pressure off.

I’d been trying for ages to persuade Les [Ferdinand] to join Newcastle, while Warren Barton and Shaka Hislop were solid performers. Ginola was the bonus.” Ginola? Bonus? “We hadn’t really heard of him. We had Scott Sellars already on the left, who was doing a very good job. We thought: ‘Is Ginola going to be better than Scott?... Oh!’” View gallery . So with an improved squad, having finished sixth in the Premier League the previous season, what was the aim before the big kick-off? A UEFA Cup place? “We were trying to win the title,” insists Lee. “Believe it or not, that’s genuine. Keegan’s mindset was always ‘if we are in a competition, let’s have a go’.” And despite having to “pick and choose” when to get forward from central midfield now he had all this other attacking talent around him, it was Lee who opened Newcastle’s account in the seventh minute. He recalls: “The ball went wide to Keith Gillespie , who was the quickest player I’d ever seen. I had a quick look around to make sure Lee Clark was behind me and then I ghosted into the box.

The ball came in and I managed to loop a good header beyond John Filan in the Coventry goal. It was one of my trademark goals, really.” Peter Beardsley doubled Newcastle’s lead with a penalty eight minutes from time, before Lee briefly broke from his epiphany to put Ferdinand through for a debut goal. The striker remembers: “It was only after watching the replay and seeing the reaction from everybody – not just the Newcastle supporters but the players and the coaching staff as well – that I knew how important that goal was.” With Ginola, Ferdinand and, indeed, Lee on fire, Keegan’s men flew out of the traps, producing some of the most scintillating football in Premier League history. “That’s just the way we played football, and I loved it,” says Lee. “The fact that everybody remembers that team, even though we finished second, makes me very proud. I believe football should be entertainment, and we entertained. I wouldn’t change anything, not even a Premier League title, for playing in a team like that.” Lee echoes Beresford’s statement, adding: “That’s why everyone’s rooting for Leicester this season.

They have a go at teams, like we did, and not many people do that anymore.” View gallery . Newcastle United 6-1 Wimbledon St James’ Park, October 21, 1995 If one game represented Newcastle’s ’95/96 season, this was it: all-out attack, the odd defensive lapse, the St James’ Park crowd in raptures... but the hero that day believes one particular moment was the team in microcosm. “It was my hat-trick goal – the team’s fifth,” Les Ferdinand tells FFT. “I remember the ball being crossed in and Rob Lee could easily have headed at goal, but he didn’t because he felt it was more important for me to get a hat-trick than for him to get on the scoresheet. That summed up the spirit we had.” A late bloomer, ‘Sir Les’ had joined Newcastle that summer for £6 million, aged 28, having scored 24 Premier League goals for QPR the previous season.

With fellow signings Ginola and Gillespie – who’d joined in January as part of the controversial deal that took Andy Cole to Manchester United – providing the kind of service that he thrived on, Ferdinand made a flying start, scoring 10 goals in his first nine league games in the north-east. By the time Wimbledon came to Toon in October, the England striker was on the verge of equalling a post-war club record of scoring in seven straight league games. “They make you aware of that sort of thing up in Newcastle,” he recalls. “There had been a bit of talk about it, but my form and the way the team was playing meant it didn’t matter what was at stake – I felt I was going to score in every game.” In fact, Newcastle huffed and puffed for half an hour before the big, bad wolf – in the unlikely form of defender Steve Howey – finally blew the Dons’ house down. The next two goals, within the space of six first-half minutes, were vintage Ferdinand.

He says: “All the local press had been going on about how they’d had great goalscorers down the years but never really someone who could head the ball, particularly in the Premier League era, which was one of my great strengths. I scored a header in my second game, against Bolton, and one of the journalists told me that the previous season it had taken Newcastle until November or December to score a header.” Against Wimbledon, the latest wearer of the famous No.9 shirt rose majestically to meet Ginola’s left-wing cross after 35 minutes, and he made it 3-0 soon afterwards when he hurled himself at Gillespie’s near-post centre from the opposite flank. The game took a comical turn in the second half when away keeper Paul Heald came flying out of his area to take down Ferdinand and was sent off for a second bookable offence, the first having been for time-wasting at 1-0 down. With injury having forced Joe Kinnear to make his three substitutions (and no fit keeper on the bench anyway), Vinnie Jones ended up in goal. “He made some great saves,” says Ferdinand.

“When the Gallowgate End started cheering him on, he turned into Sylvester Stallone in Escape to Victory.” View gallery . But the hardman-turned-gloveman was powerless to prevent stunning goals from two more unlikely scorers, defensive midfielder Lee Clark and centre-back Philippe Albert, in between which Marcus Gayle appeared in the area unmarked to head a consolation and Ferdinand bundled in his third. “I’ve still got the match ball somewhere,” he says. “But it wasn’t about personal glory – it was about the team, as that goal demonstrated more than any other I scored for Newcastle.” And despite the team falling agonisingly short, it was a season of personal triumph for Ferdinand, who scored on the final day to beat his tally of 24 goals in the previous campaign and win PFA Player of the Year. Arise, Sir Les. Newcastle United 2-1 Bolton Wanderers St James’ Park, January 20, 1996 For a club enjoying a healthy lead at the top of the table, it had been a bad week.

Days before the league visit of cellar-dwellers Bolton, Kevin Keegan’s side were dumped out of the FA Cup by Glenn Hoddle’s Chelsea in a St James’ Park replay. Belgian defender Philippe Albert scored the opener in that match but was powerless to prevent his side from tumbling out of the tournament on penalties following a late Ruud Gullit equaliser, converting his own spot-kick only after Steve Watson and Peter Beardsley had already missed. Now they faced Bolton, a side with just one point from 11 away matches and desperately devoid of confidence. They were the perfect opposition as Newcastle looked to stretch their lead over the chasing duo of Manchester United and Liverpool . The Red Devils wouldn’t play until the Monday night, when they travelled to east London to take on West Ham, but Albert tells FFT that their title rival’s form wasn’t on the Newcastle players’ minds as they attempted to extend the gap at the top to 12 points. View gallery . “It was just like any other game,” says Albert. “Whoever we played, the manager would always say one thing before we ran out: ‘Just go out and make you score one more than them’. At home that was never a problem.

Playing in front of that crowd at that time was an incredible experience – it would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. We had just beaten Arsenal 2-0 at home and nobody fancied going up there and trying to take the game to us. “People talk about the attacking potential of that side but they forget we didn’t really leak many goals either. We defenders were encouraged to get forward, yes, but we knew not to leave any gaps.” Despite missing Les Ferdinand, absent with a rib injury, Newcastle took an early lead through his deputy, Paul Kitson. Then Bolton, who were marooned at the bottom of the table with just 13 points from 24 matches, scored a shock equaliser. A Warren Barton foul on Sasa Curcic led to Scott Sellars – sold by Newcastle only a month previously – providing a free-kick that was headed in off the far post by the onrushing Gudni Bergsson. “Maybe that gave us the kick up the backside we needed,” muses Albert. “We hadn’t really suffered too many setbacks up to that point, but a point at home against the bottom side would have felt like two dropped. View gallery .

“It’s a measure of the way we played and the confidence we had, though, that we struck back pretty quickly. I think Peter Beardsley scored our second.” He’s right. The England man, who’d just celebrated his 35th birthday, pounced with his fifth goal of the campaign to put the Geordies 2-1 up at half-time. “I don’t think Kevin said too much at the break,” says Albert. “It was really just a case of us carrying on playing the way we always did. To be honest, we didn’t think too much about the potential points difference over Manchester United if the score stayed as it did. It’s a cliché, but we really were taking it a single game at a time.” The second half was a non-event, with Newcastle continuing to press as Bolton hung on grimly, knowing that defeat and in all likelihood relegation were near-certainties. “It was funny that we won that game by a single goal because that was all Manchester United did for the rest of the season,” Albert adds.

“No matter what we did, they would just keep on winning 1-0.” Newcastle United 0-1 Manchester United St James’ Park, March 4, 1996 View gallery . Time can do funny things to the memory. Popular myth has it that beginning with their defeat to closest rivals Manchester United in March, Keegan’s team capitulated; their naïve football and lack of trophy-winning nous finally catching up with them. In fact, a loss and a draw going into the top-two clash had seen a lead that was once 12 points cut to only four, but the Premier League title was still very much in Newcastle’s hands. “I knew that if we played our best, we could beat anyone,” says defender John Beresford. “It’s a great feeling to have, going into a game. And for the first 45 minutes we absolutely battered them.” Indeed they did. Twice Ferdinand was foiled by Peter Schmeichel, while Albert’s free-kick rattled the crossbar and Faustino Asprilla fired over from the rebound with the goal at his mercy. The visitors didn’t land a meaningful blow.

As Keegan said afterwards: “If ever a team has been hammered 0-0 at half-time, that was it.” At the interval he’d encouraged his team to “just do the same again”. But early in the second half, Newcastle were hit with a sucker punch. “I remember getting dragged infield, and when they dinked the ball to the back post, I thought: ‘Oh s**t’,” recalls Beresford. “And when the ball came to [Eric] Cantona I threw everything in the way. If he had caught the ball properly, it would have smashed straight into me and probably rebounded out for a throw-in or a corner, but he scuffed it into the ground and it went under me and into the far corner of the net. There are certain moments in every player’s career that you replay in your head, and that’s one of mine, but it’s one of those things – I’m not still having therapy or anything! “What I remember just as clearly, though, is a chance I had in the first half, but I overran the ball and Schmeichel gathered it.

I remember David Batty turned to me and said: ‘You had a chance to nail him there’, and he was right. I should’ve just left my foot in on Schmeichel and taken a booking. I know it sounds cynical but he was ridiculously good that season – even better than Cantona – and in that game especially. There are certain players you need to stop from having influence any way you can. He’s a lot bigger than me, mind, so I’d have had to get in there quick and then piss off!” Shell-shocked from Cantona’s goal, the Toon were a shadow of their first-half selves and Ferguson’s side ran out comfortable winners (albeit by a single goal). Just one point now separated the two teams. “There was an eerie silence in the changing room afterwards,” says Beresford. “Keegan said: ‘Look, we’ve played well – don’t get down about it. Let’s go again.’” View gallery . And go again they did, winning their next game 3-0 against West Ham . Beresford continues: “It’s a misconception that it all fell apart after that game, and I still find that frustrating now.

Two seasons later, Manchester United were miles ahead of Arsenal [leading by 11 points in March] but nobody accused them of throwing it away. But because of the way we played, nobody gave Manchester United credit for playing better in the second half of the season. I don’t look back on that game and think: ‘That was when we lost the league’ – although it certainly didn’t help.” View gallery . When Faustino Asprilla rolled up on Geordie shores in a lavish fur coat at the start of 1996, the Colombian striker was tasked with one mission: to help Newcastle United secure their first league title in 69 years. His only visit to England had been on a balmy August day for a friendly between England and Colombia at Wembley the year before. Newcastle in the depths of an unforgiving winter would provide stark contrast to Tino’s first taste of English life. “I saw on the map that Newcastle was by the sea and, well, what was I supposed to think other than beaches and somewhere hot?” Asprilla asks FFT. “I was imagining yachts in the harbour and somewhere with sun!” View gallery .

And while the sun did come out on the day Tino arrived at St James’ Park, he was left far from impressed. “One minute it was raining, the next minute there was sun, and then two minutes later it started snowing,” he recalls. “I thought: ‘Where the hell am I?’” Despite the challenges posed by the climate, Asprilla quickly settled into life on the Tyne. Even as Newcastle’s faltering form began to bite into their lead at the top, the Colombian was an instant hit – no more so than when the championship race exploded into life on a Wednesday night in April at Anfield, less than two months after his Newcastle debut. “We were second behind Man United but had two games in hand on them and a win would draw us level,” Asprilla remembers. “It was also a chance to extend our lead over Liverpool. It was a huge match, but nobody could have expected what would unfold that night – it was so strange.” Robbie Fowler had put Liverpool ahead with just two minutes on the clock, alert at the back post to nod home a Stan Collymore cross. “I remember Fowler scored early, but we hit back straightaway and went 2-1 up,” Asprilla explains.

It was the Colombian who expertly wriggled through the Liverpool defence to tee up strike partner Ferdinand for the equaliser. Ginola gave the visitors the lead minutes later. “We were winning and I could hear 7,000 Newcastle fans singing at the tops of their voices while the rest of the stadium was silent,” Asprilla continues. “You could just hear ‘Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle’ ringing around the stadium. Imagine that in a place like Anfield!” Ten minutes into the second half Fowler drew the game level with his second of the night, but parity lasted only two minutes. “Robert Lee saw me and I set off sprinting so he sent me through,” Asprilla recalls. “I could see their keeper [David James] rushing towards me and I hit it hard first time. I knocked it past him. It was a really nice goal. But still the ding-dong clash was far from over. Midway through the second period, Collymore snatched a goal back by connecting with Jason McAteer’s teasing ball. 3-3. “It gave Liverpool the momentum,” Asprilla admits.

“With a few minutes left we were waiting for the final whistle, so when Collymore scored in the last second it was like somebody throwing a bucket of cold water over the entire team. Honestly, if they’d scored five minutes before, we’d have chased the draw and got it, but there just wasn’t time.” For Asprilla, though, Newcastle didn’t lose their grasp on the championship trophy with that 4-3 defeat: “Titles aren’t lost with one game. We lost the league because of the way we approached other games.” Keegan’s despondent face may have said otherwise as he lay slumped over the advertising hoarding upon the final whistle, head crumpled into his arms. Says Asprilla: “I don’t remember what Kevin said after the game – I just remember his face. And that image speaks louder than a thousand words.” Leeds United 0-1 Newcastle United Elland Road, April 29, 1996 Newcastle did what they had to do at Elland Road, grabbing the kind of 1-0 win associated with their rivals Manchester United that season.

But even though they won the game and kept their title hopes alive, it was the night that many still associate with the end of Newcastle’s championship challenge – the night Kevin Keegan lost and Alex Ferguson won. A Monday night trip to Leeds brought the first of three matches in the final seven days of the season for Newcastle, who had two games in hand over the Red Devils but now trailed Ferguson’s men by six points and a goal difference margin of seven. Manchester United had scraped past a 10-man Leeds a fortnight earlier, triumphing 1-0 at Old Trafford. Ferguson had suggested Leeds had raised their game just because they were facing Manchester United – the insinuation being that they wouldn’t do the same against Newcastle. Leeds gave them a scare, though, twice hitting the woodwork before Keith Gillespie headed in the only goal. “We played Leeds away on the Monday, Nottingham Forest on the Thursday and then Tottenham in the last game of the season on the Sunday,” midfielder Lee Clark tells FFT. “We knew we probably had to get nine points. It was a tall order, but we won the game against Leeds, so we did the first part.” Then came the rant that defined a season – maybe even a man.

Keegan had been irked by Ferguson’s comments about Leeds, but also by reports that the Scot was unhappy Newcastle would face Forest in a crucial league match only a week before returning to the City Ground as opponents for Stuart Pearce’s testimonial. The apparent insinuation was, again, that Pearce and Forest might take it easy. “That sort of stuff – we’re bigger than that,” raved Keegan, becoming ever more irate. “When you do that with footballers, like he said about Leeds, and when you do things like that about a man like Stuart Pearce… I’ve kept really quiet, but he went down in my estimation when he said that. “We have not resorted to that, but you can tell him now, if he’s watching, we’re still fighting for this title, and he’s got to go to Middlesbrough and get something. And I tell you, I will love it if we beat them – love it.” The players were oblivious to that rant until Keegan climbed onto the team coach, ready for the drive back to Newcastle. “We hadn’t really paid much attention to Ferguson’s comments; it hadn’t been spoken about before the game,” Clark says.

“After the game, the manager came onto the coach and said he’d had a little bit of a pop at somebody in the media. When we saw it on TV, we were gobsmacked. “The lads had a bit of fun with him before the Forest game. We were well aware that’s what he was about. He was very, very passionate. If he felt something wasn’t right, he’d tell people, be they his players or people from outside the club. “It wasn’t that stress had got the better of him. He would have done that in the first game of the season if someone had questioned an opponent he had respect for.” View gallery . In the end, Newcastle drew 1-1 at Forest to go into the final day two points behind. “We just hoped Middlesbrough could do something at home to Manchester United, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case,” Clark says, sadly. “We were very popular all around the country – we were everyone’s second-favourite team.

It’s just a shame we didn’t get the silverware to top it all off.” The team didn’t feel, however, as if this was the end – especially when Alan Shearer was taken from under Manchester United’s noses and brought to his hometown club for a world-record £15m fee, before the new term brought emphatic wins over their previous season’s conquerors (5-0) and Spurs (7-1). But in January 1997 Keegan quit, saying he’d taken Newcastle – then fourth – as far as he could. Kenny Dalglish led them to second, but the Magpies never truly challenged. John Hall stepped down as chairman that year, and one by one, players left and the Great Entertainers were gone – but not forgotten. Newcastle Players 2 - Newcastle United Newcastle United 2 Famous Number 9s 10 Newcastle Players The other 10 newcastle who were my hero's was Malcolm Macdonald, Terry Hibbitt, Nolberto Solano, Laurent Robert, Andy Cole, Peter Beardsley, Faustino Asprilla, Les Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas.

Laurent Robert and Nolberto Solano were the wide men in the time who could cross a ball perfectly and could take a brillant free kick. Jermaine Jenas Was abit like Kieron Dyer who had engery to burn and was Sir Bobby Robson's signing. Les Ferdinand was a massive threat to every club with his strength and ability in the air and formed a brillant partnership with Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley just playing behind them and of course Faustino Asprilla who had amazing skill and celebrated with a somersault. The last but not least is Andy Cole who became was Kevin Keegan's signing and formed a excellent partnership with David Kelly and Peter Beardsley and also wore the number 9 too. The speedy Nigerian footballer who was Alan Shearer's replacement and was given the number 9. Nolberto Solano (Nobby) In 1998, Solano became the first Peruvian to play in England when he signed a contract with Newcastle United for £2,480,000.

Such was the interest in the little Peruvian that his first appearance in a black and white shirt for Newcastle reserves resulted in the kick off being delayed to accommodate the large crowd, many of whom had been delayed after a lorry had shed its load blocking one of the major routes into the city. Solano justified the turnout with a goal. His first team debut for Newcastle came in a Premier League match against Chelsea on 22 August 1998, when he came on after 67 minutes as a substitute for goalscorer Andreas Andersson. In June 2001, he signed a new five year contract with the club. A month later he scored what he later described as "the best goal of [his] career" with a solo effort against 1860 München. He was sold in the January transfer window of 2004 to Aston Villa. During his first spell at Newcastle, he played in the 1999 FA Cup Final. Solano returned to Newcastle United in August 2005 for a fee of £1.5 million with midfielder James Milner going the other way to Aston Villa on a season-long loan.

He signed a two-year contract with the option for Newcastle to extend it for another year. In the 2006–07 season, injuries to right-back Stephen Carr and others caused the Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder to play Solano at right-back instead of his usual right-wing position. However it was not an unfamiliar playing position to Solano, as he started his football career in defence and had featured at right-back for his country. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Roeder revealed he was in talks to extend Solano's contract to the end of next season. Solano signed a new one-year contract at Newcastle in the summer of 2007, however a few months later he asked to leave the club so to move closer to his family, who had moved to London. Nolberto Solano' Photos Laurent Robert In 2001, he joined English club Newcastle United for a fee of £9.5 million. During his stay at the club, Robert was known for his pace and crossing ability, and was often called upon to take corners and free kicks.

He had a tendency to shoot from long ranges in both open play and free kicks (scoring four goals in the 2004–05 campaign, all from set pieces) and has scored from almost 40 yards (37 m) from goal – one of his most powerful shots has been measured at around 75 mph. The club qualified for the UEFA Champions League in his first season by finishing fourth, their best finish in five years. However, at the start of the following season there were reports he was unhappy at the signings made by Robson in the summer of 2002. Despite this he still chipped in with the goals as the club made it to the second group stage of the Champions League before finishing third in the Premiership. His partnership on the left wing with full back Olivier Bernard earned the two reputations as fans' favourites for their displays. Robert's trademark corners and free kicks, combined with his pace and athleticism added to his reputation in England. He scored many long distance wonder goals and free kicks, two against Tottenham Hotspur in December 2003 in a 4-0 win. It has been regarded as one of his finest displays.

Newcastle went on to finish a slightly disappointing 5th when compared to the 3rd they achieved in the 02-03 season, but the side managed to reach the semi finals of the Uefa Cup despite the effect of injuries. Robert's goal against Liverpool in the 2004–05 season at St James' Park is used as the winner against the same team in Goal!. Santiago Muñez strikes it and it zooms out as Robert's free kick hits the top corner. In Goal! 2: Living the Dream... his overhead kick against Fulham is featured as Santiago Muñez's goal at the start. Robert spent several seasons at the club, before publicly falling out with manager Graeme Souness. His public criticism of the latter, as well as the entire Newcastle squad, resulted in Newcastle's desire to offload the troubled winger following the 2004–05 season. In his last match as a Newcastle player, Robert stripped down and threw his clothers into the Gallowgate End. Laurent Robert's Photos Jermaine Jenas Jenas began his career at Nottingham Forest where he immediately impressed during the 2001–02 season.

After a single season at the City Ground, which produced four goals in 33 games, Jenas was sold to Newcastle United for £5 million in February 2002. Newcastle United Despite an impressive first season with Newcastle United, in which he won the 2002–03 PFA Young Player of the Year award, Jenas failed to repeat his initial form with the club and his two subsequent seasons were disappointing considering his early promise. Known for his strong "box-to-box" play and ability to score from midfield, Jenas' last two years with Newcastle were marked by a series of inexplicably bland displays, but goals and energy started to dry up, leading to Jenas starting fewer games. Despite temporarily regaining his form and gaining the vice-captaincy under new manager Graeme Souness early in the 2004–05 season, Jenas' form dipped again with only two goals in 48 appearances. He scored a total of 12 goals in 152 appearances for Newcastle United.

Jermaine Jenas's Photos Faustino Asprilla (Tino) Parma sold Asprilla to English Premier League side Newcastle United for £6.7m in February 1996, with 'Tino', as the fans nicknamed him, famously appearing at St James Park to finalise the move during a snowstorm, dressed in a flamboyant fur coat. At the time, Newcastle were battling Manchester United for the league title, having led the championship for much of the season. He made his league debut in Newcastle's 2–1 win over Middlesbrough at The Riverside Stadium, coming on as a second half substitute with the score 1–0 in Middlesbrough's favour. He made an immediate impact, creating the assist for Newcastle's equaliser. Unfortunately his time on Tyneside would be blighted by inconsistency and off-field incidents, and Asprilla was blamed as one of the reasons Newcastle would go on to concede the 1995/96 Premier League title to eventual winners Manchester United. Asprilla's second season for Newcastle ended with the club finishing in second place once again, behind Manchester United.

His role was largely reduced to substitute appearances, although he retained his best performances for the clubs UEFA Cup campaign, scoring 5 goals. His wild celebration of the goal he scored against FC Metz, whereby he removed his shirt and swung it from a corner flag, resulted in Asprilla being given a yellow card, meaning a suspension from Newcastle's next UEFA Cup game against AS Monaco. The 1997/98 season would be Asprilla's last for Newcastle. With the sale of striker Les Ferdinand to Tottenham Hotspur, and the serious injury to Alan Shearer during pre-season, Asprilla was preferred as first choice striker alongside the young, inexperienced Jon Dahl Tomasson. With the club competing in that season's Champions League, Asprilla's finest game for Newcastle came in a 3–2 win over Barcelona in an unforgettable game at St James' Park. Asprilla scored a hat-trick for Newcastle, which would be his last goals for the club.

By the end of January 1998, with Newcastle struggling in the league and knocked out of the Champions League, Asprilla's time at Newcastle came to an abrupt end, with the Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish finally running out of patience with the wild Colombian's playboy antics and on-field inconsistency. He was sold back to Parma for £6m, having scored a total of 9 goals in 48 league appearances, and an impressive 9 goals in 11 European games. Faustino Asprilla's Photos Les Ferdinand Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle in 1995 for £6 million, with Hayes receiving £600,000 due to a sell-on clause agreed following his move to QPR (with the money received Hayes built a function suite and named it "The Ferdinand Suite" in his honour). It was a tidy profit for a player who had cost them a mere £5,000. His arrival at the club came nearly three years after the Magpies had offered QPR £3.3million for him during their Division One promotion season - but the offer had been turned down. The spell on Tyneside was arguably Ferdinand's most successful club tenure.

He scored 29 goals in his first season with Newcastle, and significantly contributed to the side's getting within touching distance of the Premiership title in the 1995–96 season. In both of his seasons on Tyneside, Ferdinand collected runners-up medals in the Premier League. In the second season, they had contested a four-horse race with Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool before Manchester United won the title. In the first season, however, Newcastle had led the league by 12 points at one stage, but were overhauled by United in the final three months of the season. Ferdinand scored 50 goals in only 84 games at Newcastle, forming a successful partnership with Alan Shearer. He was and indeed is still very highly thought of by Newcastle United and received a standing ovation when he came on as a substitute at Alan Shearer's testimonial and subsequently scored. Les Ferdinand's Photos Peter Beardsley Beardsley signed for Newcastle for a fee of £150,000, although when they had let him go earlier they could have signed him for nothing.

The pacey, incisive and skilful forward made his debut for the Magpies the day after he signed, 24 September, in the 1–1 2nd division draw with Barnsley at Oakwell. Beardsley was an instant hit with the Newcastle supporters, scoring and setting up spectacular goals. He went on to celebrate promotion with his team-mates, who were captained by Kevin Keegan in his final season as a player. They finished in the final promotion spot behind winners Chelsea and runners-up Sheffield Wednesday. He scored 20 league goals that season and formed an exciting strike partnership with former England striker Kevin Keegan who had also won major honours with Liverpool. Beardsley's career would have echoes of that enjoyed by Keegan, who retired at the end of that promotion campaign. Beardsley scored his first goal for the Magpies on 19 October 1983 in their 2–0 victory over Cardiff City at Ninian Park. His first goals at St James' Park came in Newcastle's next fixture, against Manchester City. United beat City 5–0 and Beardsley scored his first ever hat-trick.

In his first season in the First Division, Beardsley scored 17 goals in 38 league games as Newcastle finished in 14th position. During the following campaign he played in all of Newcastle's 42 league matches, scoring 19 goals. In one fixture against West Ham United, Beardsley ended the game as a stand-in goalkeeper. The game ended in an 8–1 defeat for Newcastle, with Beardsley conceding the last 3 goals. However, apart from a brief run of fine form early in the 1985–86 season which saw a few observers tip them as dark horses in the title race, Newcastle never looked like winning anything major during Beardsley's first spell in the team, and he was soon being targeted by bigger clubs. Upon returning from the 1986 World Cup, Beardsley helped Newcastle to another mid-table finish (11th), scoring 11 goals in 27 appearances, and won a further six caps for his country, before Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish made a national record £1.9 million offer to Newcastle for Beardsley's services.

Manager Willie McFaul accepted the offer and Beardsley was on his way to Merseyside after four seasons on Tyneside which had brought a total of a 61 goals (all in the league), his transfer completed on 14 July 1987. 12 years later, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson revealed in his autobiography that he had made a bid for Beardsley, but McFaul had rejected the offer and told him that he wouldn't sell the player even if Ferguson offered £3 million. Return to Newcastle United On 16 July 1993, Beardsley rejoined Newcastle for £1.5 million, where his old team-mate and strike partner Kevin Keegan was now manager. Newcastle had just won promotion to the Premier League as Division One champions, and in 1993–94 they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup, with Beardsley scoring a total of 25 goals and his strike-partner Andy Cole scoring a club record of 41 goals in all competitions.

He played for a further four years at the club, almost captaining them to the FA Premier League title in 1996, but they were pipped to the title by Manchester United. During his second spell at St James's Park he racked up 157 appearances and scored 56 goals, bringing his overall total after two spells with the club to 321 appearances and 117 goals. This equates to a goal every 2.74 matches, a decent ratio for a player who was seen by many as a provider rather than a goalscorer, particularly in the 1996–97 season when he was switched to midfield following Alan Shearer's arrival. It is this period of his career that Beardsley regards as the time when he peaked. Peter Beardsley's Photos Andy Cole In February 1993, Division One leaders Newcastle United splashed out a then club record £1.75 million for his services. He then scored 12 goals in as many league games as the Magpies cruised to the Division One title and won promotion to the Premier League.

His 12 goals included two hat-tricks, the first against Barnsley on 7 April, the second on the final day of the season in a 7–1 hammering of Leicester City. He also scored the first of the club's two goals in their 2-0 promotion clinching win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 4 May. After David Kelly was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Kevin Keegan brought in Peter Beardsley as Cole's strike partner for the 1993–94 Premier League campaign. Cole scored 34 goals in 40 games during Newcastle's first Premier League season as they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Cole scored a total of 41 goals in all competitions – breaking the club's goalscoring record which had been set by Hughie Gallacher nearly 70 years earlier (Gallacher still holds the record for the highest number of league goals in a season with 36). His first top division goal was in a 1–1 draw against defending league champions Manchester United (who went on to win the double) at Old Trafford on 21 August. This was Newcastle's first goal in the Premier League.

Exactly three months later, he scored all three goals as the Magpies crushed Liverpool 3–0 at home. Another hat-trick followed against Coventry City in late February and with Peter Beardsley almost as lethal as his strike partner, the Magpies finished third in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since the 1970s. Cole was subsequently voted PFA Young Player of the Year for that season. Cole then scored nine Premier League goals in 18 games for Newcastle after the start of the 1994–95 season, and also scored a hat-trick against Royal Antwerp in the UEFA Cup. In all, Cole hit 68 goals in 84 games for Newcastle giving him a strike rate of 81%. In terms of goals per game for Newcastle, only Hughie Gallacher has a better record. His last goal for the Magpies came in the 1–1 home draw with Ipswich Town on 26 November 1994. Andy Cole's Photos Malcolm Supermac Macdonald Born in Fulham, London, Macdonald started out as a full back before switching to centre forward. After signing from Tonbridge Angels.

Bobby Robson paid £1,000 to sign him Fulham in 1968 just after their relegation from the Football League First Division. A year later he moved to Luton Town. At Luton he scored 49 times in 88 matches, which caught the eye of Newcastle United manager Joe Harvey, who signed him for £180,000 in the summer of 1971. At Newcastle he quickly became a favourite of the fans, scoring a hat-trick on his home debut against Liverpool, and was the club's top scorer for five seasons in a row. While at Newcastle, he made his debut for England (against Wales). On 16 April 1975, in a game for England against Cyprus he scored all five goals in a 5–0 victory, a record that still stands today (spawning a newspaper headline "SuperMac 5, Cyprus 0". In total he played 14 times for his country, scoring six times (the only other game he scored in being a 2–0 win over then World Champions West Germany).

Macdonald left Newcastle for Arsenal in 1976, for the unusual fee of £333,333.33, and played two full seasons (being the club's top scorer in both), but suffered a knee injury in a League Cup match against Rotherham at the start of the 1978–79 season, from which he was unable to completely recover. After having spent a couple of months in Sweden with Djurgårdens IF he announced his retirement from playing at the premature age of 29 in August 1979. He never won a major honour but was on the losing side in two FA Cup finals and a League Cup final, two for Newcastle and one for Arsenal. Malcolm Macdonald's Photos Obafemi Martins With Martins handing in a transfer request in August 2006, English Premier League club Newcastle United completed a deal with Inter for the striker on 24 August 2006 for €15 million, with Martins signing a five year deal.

He was paraded in front of the Geordie fans before their UEFA cup tie against FK Ventspils, and inherited the club's cherished number 9 shirt, vacated after the retirement of the club-record goalscorer Alan Shearer in April. Martins made his debut on 27 August, in the 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa, in which he was stretchered off with a knee injury. It turned out that Martins suffered a severe dead leg and internal bleeding. His unremarkable first few appearances for Newcastle caused manager Glenn Roeder to speak out in his defence. However, on 17 September, Martins scored his first goal for Newcastle. It was the second goal in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United at Upton Park, and from there his goalscoring form began to improve steadily. Reports on 11 January 2007, indicated that Chelsea were considering making an offer for Martins services after his impressive form. These reports were later rubbished by Roeder and Martins himself. On 14 January, in a 2–3 away win against Tottenham Hotspur, Martins' 20-yard shot rocketed into the net.

This strike was clocked by Sky Sports at a speed of 84 mph (135 km/h), making it unofficially the ninth hardest shot ever recorded in football according to the Guardian website. This was his tenth goal for Newcastle. Martins ended his first season on Tyneside with 17 goals in 46 games. His second season was somewhat mixed. With new manager Sam Allardyce preferring to play Michael Owen and Mark Viduka up front, Martins found himself being used as an impact substitute for the first half of the season. Despite this he managed to score consistently, and when Allardyce was sacked and Kevin Keegan was appointed, Martins found himself being used as part of a three pronged attack along with Owen and Viduka. Martins scored less goals in his second season with Newcastle, mainly due to him no longer being the focal point of all their attacks as he was in his first season with them, as well as his season being interrupted with the African Cup of Nations participation with Nigeria in December. Martins scored six goals in 12 league games during the first half of the 2008–09 season before a torn hamstring ruled him out for several games.

It was confirmed on 7 January 2009, that Martins would undergo hernia surgery in Germany the next Monday. He was be operated on by renowned specialist Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck. He did make it back in time for the last two games of the season, scoring in a relegation six-pointer derby against Middlesbrough. However, he could not stop Newcastle being relegated to the Championship. He initially reiterated his desire to stay and help the club return to the Premier League for the 2009-10 season, but he eventually left for VfL Wolfsburg. His last game was on a preseason friendly against Leyton Orient F.C., which Newcastle lost 6-1. During his three-year spell on Tyneside, Martins amassed 39 goals in all competitions from 105 games. Obafemi Martins Terry Hibbitt December 1947 – 5 August 1994) was an English football player, who was on the books at Leeds United, Newcastle United and Birmingham City during his career. His position was midfielder. His brother Kenny also established himself as a successful footballer.

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Hibbitt began his career at local Yorkshire club Leeds United, who were particularly strong at the time, with twelve full internationals in the first team. This wealth of ability meant Hibbitt found in difficult to retain a first team place and was looking for a new club. Newcastle United's manager Joe Harvey bid £30,000 for his services in 1971, which was accepted by the club; he officially joined the Magpies on 1 August of that year. His debut came two weeks later, in an away match against Crystal Palace. This was incidentally the same game in which Malcolm Macdonald made his first appearance for Newcastle. Both of these players are still held in high regard by many Newcastle supporters. Whilst at Newcastle, Hibbitt was appreciated for his workrate and overall contribution to the team. Although he scored just fourteen goals during his time at the club, he made many assists and was noted for his accurate crosses with his left foot. He moved to Birmingham City in 1975, where he enjoyed three years at the club and made more than 100 appearances.

He returned to Newcastle to see out the end of his career, staying at the club up to his retirement in 1981, after failing to recover from a knee injury. He went on to play non-league football with Gateshead until 1986, during which time he also coached the team. He made 130 appearances in all competitions for Gateshead, scoring seven goals. Hibbitt became Gateshead manager at the end of the 1985/86 season after the Tynesiders had gained promotion to the then Gola League (Conference National). He resigned in October 1986 after six months in the job, due to the clubs financial position and lowly position in the league. Hibbitt later owned a pub in the North-East as well as a paper shop in the old West Denton Shopping Centre, next to the Whin Dyke public house. He contracted cancer and died in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1994 at the age of 46.

Middlesbrough v Newcastle Utd 1995-96 WATSON FERDINAND GOAL - YouTube Middlesbrough v Newcastle Utd 1995-96 WATSON FERDINAND GOAL Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Feb 1, 2016 Six league defeats in a row now for Middlesbrough as Newcastle pay their first visit to The Riverside stadium and win 2-1. Faustino Asprilla was making his debut for Newcastle and with him, Ginola, Ferdinand and Keith Gillespie up front Boros defence was always going to be in for a torrid time. Category

Question: Making his debut for Newcastle United in 1995, who was the first Colombian to play in the Premier League?
Answer: FAUSTINO ASPRILLA